


Just Us

by honeybb_79



Series: you put your arms around me and im home [1]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aang (Avatar) Is A Good Parent, Aged-Up Character(s), Dorks in Love, F/M, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Feels, Fluff, Gen, Grief/Mourning, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I love them so much, Kataang - Freeform, Kataang Week, Katara and Aang are parents, Love, Post-Canon, Pregnancy, dream - Freeform, he deserves this, katara needs her mom a bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-15 18:42:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28568679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honeybb_79/pseuds/honeybb_79
Summary: After a weird dream, Katara wonders what it all means. Feeling sick after the event, Katara believes there is a sign.OR: How Katara found out she was pregnant and her pregnancy journey
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Mai/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar)
Series: you put your arms around me and im home [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2093238
Comments: 6
Kudos: 50





	1. Just Us

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: This chapter mentions vomiting
> 
> Katara is 26 and Aang is 24

Katara was tossing and turning in her sleep.

_“Mom?” She asked when she sees a woman in water tribe clothing from afar. She runs closer towards the woman and the woman turns around to face her._

_It was her mother. She looked just as how she remembered. Her glowing blue eyes and her skin so immaculate from scars or injuries, but as Katara moved her eyes away from her mothers face and towards her chest, her mother was holding onto a baby._

_“Congratulations, sweetie,” she whispers and lets out a smile. Katara stood there stunned. She hadn’t known what it meant._

_She takes a step back, “What?” Her mother moved closer to her._

_“Dont be afraid.”_

_Katara shakes her head, “Who is that?” She points her finger at the baby her mother is cradling. Her mother opens her mouth but no words come out to explain. Her lips move, but there is no sound._

_Katara raises an eyebrow confused on what was happening. “I don’t understand.”_

_Her mother continues to try to speak but nothing happens._

_Frustrated, Katara raises her voice, “Mother, I don’t understand! What does this mean?”_

_Her mother gets closer to Katara and closes her eyes. She leans her head towards Katara’s forehead and plants a gentle kiss._

Katara opens her eyes and her body sits up in bed. She was panting from the weird dream she was having. It had been years since she had seen her mother, and seeing her interact with her for just that moment, brought her to tears.

Aang shifts next to her in his sleep, but then he opened his eyes when he heard the soft sniffles coming from Katara. He sits up in bed knowing that she was upset.

“Katara?” He asks while rubbing his eyes. “What’s wrong?” He rests his hand on her shoulder. She looks at him from the corner of her eyes. She can tell he was concerned and stopped crying. She wiped her tears from her face and faces him.

“I had a dream and my mother was in it,” she responds still wiping her tears. Aang hugs her and strokes her hair. She hadn’t had a dream about her mother in a few years. They used to be quite frequent until it all of the sudden just stopped. Sometimes, it would cause her pain, and other times Katara was left happy when she would detail how it was like a one on one conversation as if she was still here. Other times it was a nightmare on the day the fire nation invaded the southern water tribe and murdered Kya. And times like these, where the dream would leave Katara speechless and wanting answers. All those times, Aang was there to comfort her on those dreams. Each and every single one of them.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asks breaking off the hug. She lets out a sigh and looks into his eyes.

“The thing is,” she whispers lowly, “I dont know what it was about. It was strange, but seeing my mother, it broke my heart. She sounded the same.” Katara looks away from him and looks at the bed sheets.Her eyes fixated on them and stared out into space. Aang grew concerned, but hoped something could get her mind off of it.

All Katara was thinking about was her mom. The baby. _What had it meant?_

“Katara?” She hears Aang say and he rests his hand on top hers. She jumped at the touch and looked at him.

“Yeah?” She says dryly. She gulped but her mouth lacked moisture. Something was very off.

“I’ll go make some tea. Hopefully it helps,” he says pointing towards the exit of their bedroom. She nods her head along to his words. She watches him get up from their bed and walk out of the bedroom.

She sat there still wondering and was stuck in some sort of trance. The baby kept throwing her off. It kept popping into her mind.

It had been eleven years since the end of the war. The couple now lived in Air Temple Island near the heart of Republic City where Aang runs the place and shares the air-nomad history to the Air Acolytes. From the end of the war until now, Katara, Aang, and the rest of the gang were known by each other to have weird dreams and nightmares. It was common for them to have dreams about the war as if they were young teenagers again— but they would always wake up as grown adults and into reality. The war was over. Firelord Ozai is not ruling. The world is slowly coming into an era of peace.

Nightmares and dreams would throw them off for some certain times, but this was the first time in a while where it had left Katara pensive about it. It was all she could think about and just the weirdness of it led her to believe it was some sort of sign.

The door of the bedroom opened and Aang walked in with a circular tray with two tea cups with steaming tea.

“I made it just like how Iroh does it,” Aang says proudly. He walks across the room slowly hoping to not tilt the tray, and lays it softly in bed. He hands the tea to Katara and she takes it. She gets a whiff of the tea, and it brought her warmness, but it also left her stomach to have a weird reaction towards it.

Aang grabs his teacup and blows gently at its fumes— letting the temperature of it to cool down a little. He sits at the side of the bed and plants his feet on the floor. Katara takes a sip of the tea and ultimately regrets it. She feels the content of her stomach rise up and she hovers her hand over her mouth to stop herself from letting out the content. She shoots up out of the bed and runs out of the room startling Aang.

“Was it that bad?” He asks out loud and places his tea on the tray. He gets out of the bed and follows after her. Katara opens the bathroom door abruptly and kneels down to the ground quickly near the toilet. Her body couldn’t hold it much longer. She spilled bile into the toilet and kept going. Aang reached the entryway of the bathroom and grew concerned in the state she was in. Seeing that she continued to vomit, he quickly kneeled at her side and gathered her long air and pulled it away from her face.

Katara kept heaving until her body felt empty. She was so drained from having to do all of that, that she felt weak.

“I dont know what’s wrong with me,” she says shakily. Her eyebrows grew with concerned at her husband, and she felt scared about her health. Aang reaches out to stroke her hair and lets out a soft smile.

“I’m sure you’ll be okay, Katara.” He gives a reassuring nod, and Katara nods her head weakly. “Come on,” he says gently to her as he got up slowly from the ground. He grabs her hand and helps her stand up. “Can you walk?”

Katara holds onto her stomach and the queasiness of it.

She looks at Aang, “Yeah,” she lets out a breath, “I just feel shaky.” She begins to take a few steps and her legs felt like jelly. She walks near the sink of the bathroom and opens the knob of it. Water streams out of the faucet and Katara cups her hands together and slurps it into her mouth. She rinses her mouth with it and spits it back out. She felt weak and so lethargic. All she wanted to do was rest. She looks at Aang and gives a small nod— a message that she was okay and ready to get into bed. Aang holds onto her and leads her back to the bedroom. He picks her up bridal style when he realizes how tired she was and lays her gently in bed.

“Thank you,” she whispers with a weak smile. He smiles softly at her and then looks at her tea cup that she left on the tray.

“Are you going to finish your tea?” He asks. Katara’s face dropped. Just the mention of tea made her feel nauseous and Aang notices her body language. “I’ll take that as a no.”

“Can you bring me water? My throat is a little dry,” she asks him. He nods his head and leaves the bedroom.

Her stomach was driving her insane. She felt as if something was in there. There had to be something causing her to throw up and it wasn’t the tea. She grew to love the way Aang makes his teas and he made sure to make her favorite one, and this feeling was new. She places her hand on her stomach and concentrates on the lingering feeling she had. She felt something and gasped as soon as she felt it. She withdrew her hand away from her stomach— afraid of what she felt.

Katara places her hand once again on her stomach and felt the sensation again. A beating heart. Her lips grew into a smile and she laughs quietly to herself.

“Is this what you meant, mother?” She asks to herself as tears grew on her waterline.

_“Congratulations, sweetie.”_ Plays into her mind. She closes her eyes and placed her hand on her stomach once again. Tears streamed down her face. She was already in love with the child.

“I brought—“ Aang walks in and stops in his tracks when he sees Katara holding onto her stomach and crying. He grew concerned once again and was afraid he won’t be able to make her feel better. “Katara, what’s wrong?” He runs to her side and placed his hand on top of hers. She opens her eyes and looks up at him and smiles.

“Aang—“ she starts and she couldn’t stop smiling with happy tears.

His eyes widened, “What is it?” His eyes looked at her features. He noticed her smile and her tears. _What could she be happy about?_

“I placed my hand on my stomach and with the water inside it,” she initiates, “I felt a heart beat.” Aang’s eyes widened and he let out a breath.

“What?” He lets out a gasp and his worried lips grew into a smile. He lets out a laugh of shock.

“Aang, I felt a heartbeat,” she whispers with a smile.

“You felt a heartbeat!” He repeats louder. Aang jumps high with his air bending and he floated back down to the floor. He hugs Katara and kisses her thousands of times on her cheeks. “We’re going to be parents?”

She kisses him back, “We’re going to be parents.” As the words slipped out of her mouth, Aang fell in love with their child just as she had. He couldn’t contain his smile to the point where tears welled in his eyes. He closes his eyes and allowed his tears to flow out of him. He gently places his hand on top of her stomach. Katara rested her hand on top of his and gently squeezes it. He looks away from her stomach and into her eyes. He loved her very much. She was his guiding light and what attached him to earth. She was the love that was equal to his air-nomadic love. Tears welled in her eyes. They gone through every situation and problem together. It was always them together. Just the two of them.

“Our little family,” she says softly. He nods his head and plants a kiss again on her forehead. She smiles softly at the sensation. “You know— in my dream, my mother congratulated me and held a baby in her arms.” She pauses. “I didn’t know what it had meant then, but I do now.”

He intertwines his fingers with hers. “It was a sign.”

She nods her head with a sweet smile, “A good sign.”

The young couple hugged each other throughout the night as they rested their hand on their unborn child— feeling it growing within and waiting to meet for the next couple of months.


	2. Reflecting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes I uploaded a new chapter the next day lol im really at my element with this fic
> 
> putting all my attention to it :) 
> 
> hope you enjoy!

Katara was tired. All she wanted to do was sit or lay down, but although she wanted to do that, she found herself admiring the sky from looking out the window in the bedroom. Aang wasn’t home and was on a meeting in the fire nation with Firelord Zuko. She wasn’t alone though, she had Sokka, Suki and Toph watching over her and visiting her whenever they can from their jobs in the city.

She grabs a chair and places it near the window and sits down comfortably as the cushion of the seat made her body feel relieved. She lets out a sigh as she shifts her body around to be even more comfortable and puts her hand on her stomach. She smiles lightly when she felt her childs heartbeat and the sensation of the child kicking inside. She sees her skin protrude out elastically on her stomach and laughs lightly at seeing her child being so active.

“Wow, you’re so active now and its almost night-time,” she whispers towards her belly. She lets out a sigh and moves her eyes from her stomach and at the window once again. The sun was setting and the sky was at its prettiest where the sky unleashed pink and purple colors. The sky had reminded her when her and team avatar were celebrating the end of the war. She had remembered walking to the balcony and there stood Aang. It was there where she felt everything had come to place as it should be. She wanted to be with Aang. He was her friend first and her love second. She remembers wanting to tell him so much, but the silence between them spoke thousands of meanings where they felt a hug first would conclude everything. Followed by a kiss. That kiss is what Katara will always remember— the feeling she had in that moment.

Ever since then, every kiss that they shared, it felt just like the first time.

For a moment of silence, Katara felt at peace. She felt as if everything was coming to place and she couldn’t wait to meet her little one and find out the kind of person they’d be once they’re older. For the past few weeks, knowing that in a few weeks she is going to give birth, she felt scared. She knows she shouldn’t feel that way, but she didn’t have her mother or gran-gran anymore by her side to guide her. She let out a sigh when her mind lingers to that thought, but she tried burying it in the back of her mind.

She turned her head around once she heard light knocking at the door.

“Come in,” she says. The door knob twists and the door opens. It was Sokka, and he smiled once he saw his little sister.

“Hey, sis,” he says and closes the door behind him. She smiled back and gets up from her seat, but Sokka told her not to. “You dont have to get up. Just stay there.”

She ignored him and laughed, “Just because I’m pregnant doesnt mean I’m incapable of doing things.” He rolled his eyes at her response.

“Yeah but have you seen yourself lately? You’re about to burst!”

“Just one more month to be exact,” she says cradling her stomach again. She gets up from her seat and approaches to her brother and gives him a hug.

Breaking off the hug, she asks, “How’s Suki?”

“She’s doing fine just helping out the community when she can. She actually went to Kyoshi Island to help out her warriors on a special visit.” Katara nodded at his words, but her face fell subtly when her mind wondered about being alone on guidance.

“Sokka?” She asks him as she looks up at him. He saw how upset she became and grew concerned.

“What’s up?” His eyebrows furrowed with concern.

She opens her mouth to say something but then hesitated and shook her head. “Its probably stupid. Forget it.” Sokka raises an eyebrow at her response.

“Uh, no, just spit it out. Whats wrong?”

She closes her eyes and lets out a sigh.

She opens them again to look at her brother and proceeds to talk, “I haven’t told anyone this— not even Aang, but. . . I’m scared.” He looked at her stunned and was confused on how she was scared about her pregnancy. One thing he had always known about Katara was that she was going to be a great mom and knew she would do a great job. “Moms not here and so is Gran- Gran. The two women I was close with are gone, and I’m alone on this mom journey.”

Sokka noticed her eyebrows furrow and soon tears were welling in her eyes.

He immediately hugged her tight and whispered, “Katara, you’re going to do great. You have us. You’re not alone.”

“I know I’ve helped deliver so many babies in my time, but this time it's my own. Im so scared, Sokka.”

“You’ve done it many times with other mothers before and you’ll do it again when its your time. I know you can.”

* * *

“How’s Katara?” Zuko asks reviewing papers. Aang and Zuko were in a meeting just the two of them going over how Republic City is being run.

“What page are you on?” Aang asks. Zuko glances at his papers and counts how many pages he had read previously.

“Im on page ten.”

Aang flips his papers trying to catch up with the firelord.

Aang reclines back in his seat and sighs, “Katara— she’s doing real great for the most part. I feel bad for leaving her, but I’ll be back by tomorrow.” Aang shifts in his seat and reads the paper he had in front of him. “Sorry, I’m just having trouble concentrating.”

Zuko glances up at the avatar away from his papers, “Something on your mind?”

“I think I’m okay.”

Zuko didn’t believe that response. He knew whatever Aang was thinking about, was troubling him internally. He had been acting like this ever since he arrived at the palace a few days ago. He was more jumpy but not in the joyful way— it was more as if he was startled most of the time.

“Just tell me.”

Aang sighs, “As dumb as it sounds. . . I’m scared once the baby comes, I’ll be a terrible father or something. I wasn’t raised by my parents and never got to know my mom or dad.” He places his hand on the back of his head and rubs it.

Zuko nods his head slowly, “That’s understandable, Aang. It’s a bit scary going through something new.” He notices Aang being lost in thought once again. “Let me tell you this.” Aang looks up at Zuko and focused on what he was saying. “You and Katara will do great. I’ve seen the way she cares for all, and I’ve seen the way you do too. Without a doubt, you’ll be a great team.”

Aang subtly smiled at Zuko. He was grateful for their friendship and how much they have grown from the first time they met. Zuko always finds it funny how his enemy became his best friend, but for Aang, it wasn’t because he always gave people a second chance and believed maybe one day they could be friends. And he was right.

Zuko glances down at his paper and then looks at Aang again.

“You know,” he continues, “I understand how you’re feeling. I’m scared raising a child too because of how my father was to me, but I have his example on who to _not_ be. I also have Mai with me and she’s an incredible person.” He smiles when he thinks of Mai. He stammers for a bit, “We’re actually trying to have a baby right now.”

Aang lights up at the mention, “Wow, Zuko! I can’t wait!” He lets out a joyful sigh, “Wow, just imagine us with a baby on our lap going on vacations together or something.”

Zuko laughs, “Wait up, Aang. The baby isn’t even here yet and you’re thinking about vacations.”

“Sorry I just got excited,” He chuckles. “You’re going to be a great dad.”

Zuko smiled, “You will be too.”

* * *

Aang and Katara arrived at the southern water tribe on Appa. Sokka and Suki were waiting for them to arrive and they had planned it all along.

Katara was very close to her due date and wanted to give birth at her home and Aang agreed with whatever plans she had in mind. As Appa landed on the fluffy snow, Aang swopped Katara up in his arms and used his air bending to jump off of Appa gently. Momo flew down in a spiral like form and followed the couple to where they stood.

There stood Sokka, Suki, and Hakoda waiting for them at the ground. Katara grabbed a hold on Aang’s hand and waddled towards their family.

“I missed you guys,” she says as they huddled together in a group hug.

“It’s so good to see you, Katara. Cant wait to meet the little one,” Suki said with a smile on her face. She was excited to be an aunt and couldn’t wait to form a bond with the child with Sokka.

“My daughter,” Hakoda says gently. Katara looked up to her father and smiles. She had missed him so much and hadn’t seen him for quite a while, but she was glad he was with her during this time. “Cant wait to see my grandchild.” He hugs Katara and did the same to Aang.

“Come. We’ll show you where you’ll be staying,” Sokka says and gestures with his hand for the soon to be parents to follow them. They walked within the village and the people going on about their lives stopped and bowed their head to the avatar and Katara. The couple greeted them back and continued to walk.

They made their way in a snow home where next to it was Sokka and Suki’s. Walking in, it was a traditional style of a home that had things that a home needed in the southern water tribe. Momo flew in excitedly and curiously looking at the inside of the home. There was a bed, a common area, and a kitchen area that had utensils to use for food and other bowls. Katara and Aang led the way more into the home while Sokka, Suki and Hakoda stood behind them.

“Wow,” Katara gasps in amazement. “This feels like home already.” She looks around the room spotting some cultural objects like a spear weaponry for hunting and folktales books on a table. Momo flew towards the bed and sits on top of it. She walks near the bed and sees a blanket and her eyes widened at the sight of it. It looked familiar and tears welled in her eyes.

“Is this moms?” She says grabbing the blanket and wrapping her body with it. She smiled at the blanket and it was so soft and nicely woven.

Hakodas smile from seeing his daughter appreciate the gift fell into a small frown, “No, I’m sorry. I had someone in the tribe make a replica.”

“Oh.” Is all she says wiping her tears. She lets out a small laugh, “It’s okay I still love the gift.” She walks to where her father stood and hugged him. Breaking off the hug, they stood in front of each other in silence. Sokka and Suki looked around the room to avoid awkwardness.

“Well,” Suki initiated, “we’ll leave you two alone and settle in to the temporary home.” Sokka grabbed Suki’s hand and intertwined his fingers with hers and they walked out of the home followed by Hakoda.

For a moment the couple were silent towards each other. Katara’s face had a subtle frown after the exchange with her father.

“Everything okay?” Aang asks her. She was fighting back her tears and tried so hard to not let them accumulate on her waterline. She failed as her vision became blurry from the tears blocking her vision.

“I dont know why I’m crying,” she laughs softly wiping her tears.

“Its about the blanket isn’t it?”

She sighs, “I didn’t want to be upset about it. I guess I just got my hopes up thinking it was actually hers.” Aang grabs her hand and gives it a gentle squeeze.

“Hey, that’s okay. Thats understandable,” he says softly with a smile. “At least he went out of his way to get a replica of it.”

Katara lit up and smiled a bit when she saw her husbands face, “Yeah, it’s the thought that counts.” She places her hand on her mothers necklace worn around her neck and rubs her finger along the carved water tribe symbol on it. Aang wraps his arm around her and kisses her on the cheek. He placed his hand on her grown stomach and looks up at her beaming blue eyes.

“Soon enough, our child will be here,” he says with a smile. “By then, you’ll be able to keep your mothers memory alive by telling them stories about her and her bravery.”

Katara smiles, “Yeah you’re right. They’ll learn about their gran-gran one way or another.” She places her hand on top of his hand that was on her stomach and touches his fingertips. He wrapped his embrace tighter and grabbed ahold of her hand and brought it to his lips as he planted a gentle kiss.

“We’ll be okay,” he reassures to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think !   
> Thank you so much for reading and giving kudos and commenting ! it means a lot


	3. You and Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> major fluff incoming !!

_A week later . . ._

“So, how are your warriors doing at the island?” Katara asks cradling her stomach. She was taking a short walk through the snowy terrance of the southern water tribe with Suki as Sokka left with Aang to show his newly built watch-tower.

Suki looks up from the white snow and looks up at Katara with a smile, “They are doing so good. I’m very proud of them.” She pauses for a moment and looks back down on the ground. “I actually did a ceremony back home for my warriors and appointed a new leader.”

Katara’s eyes widened at the mention, “How do you feel about that? Sokka didn’t tell me you were going to do that.”

“I didn’t know how to tell people about it.” She pauses for a moment, and then she gave a reassuring nod to her words, “I’m confident with my decision. I just think that its time for me to put my attention and full focus on something else. . .” she pauses once again, “you know— living with Sokka and helping him out in the city and potentially starting a family too.” She smiles at the idea. Suki and Sokka talked about starting a family from time to time, but they still weren’t sure if to because of their busy lives, but if they couldn’t, Suki would still be comfortable with that.

Katara smiles at Suki and her smile faded slowly, “But is it the end for your career as a Kyoshi warrior?” She knew how much Suki loved being a warrior and how much she cared for her girls back home.

Suki shook her head and softly smiled, “Of course not. I still am and will always be a warrior. I just am not the leader because I’ve been away from my girls for a long time.” She rests her hand on Katara’s shoulder. “Trust me. I’ll go to the island from time to time to help out and train my new sisters. I won’t abandon them.”

Katara smiled at Suki’s response. Katara thought about her job and wonders how different her life would be after her baby is born. She was an ambassador for the southern water tribe and before she became heavily pregnant, she would travel to different nations and present policies from the tribe in hopes the leaders would accept them and/or adopt some policies into their nation. She loved being an ambassador because she knew so much about her tribe and the cultural importance of it. She was the embodiment of her culture from being a native born to a water bender and knew the ideals of her people.

Changing the subject, Suki asks, “Is Toph and Zuko coming?”

“Toph told me she’ll visit when Aang and I are back in the city because you know—”

“Being the chief and all,” Suki finishes Katara’s sentence. They both laughed at that because that was Toph’s usual excuse on not attending things. In this case, not going to the southern water tribe due to its cold temperatures and her not being able to “see” things because of the snow.

“Yeah,” Katara giggles, “Exactly that.” Katara then thinks about Zuko. “I think Zuko and Mai are coming. I’m not sure. He’s always busy, but they congratulated Aang and I—“ Katara stops in her tracks and winces in pain.

“Ah!” She yells out cradling her stomach. Suki furrowed her eyebrows with concern and held on to Katara.

“Are you okay?” She asks.

Katara winces in pain and closes her eyes concentrating on her contractions. Suki and Katara stood there in silence until Katara felt better. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s been happening a lot lately but no sign of the baby yet!” Suki nods her head and rubbed Katara’s shoulder.

“Take it easy, okay?”

“Of course— Ah!” She yells in pain. The pain was excruciating for the soon-to be mother. She pants as the pain was felt throughout her whole body. It was ongoing and didn’t want to stop. Katara squats down a bit holding onto the bottom of her stomach wincing in pain.

“Katara. . . “ Suki holds onto Katara’s shoulder.

Katara blocked off Suki’s voice. She actually didn’t hear what she said and her voice sounded muffled. She was inhaling and exhaling rapidly as the pain kept continuing. “Suki. . .” she pants in pain. She couldn’t finish her sentence as another shot of pain was struck at her core and Katara yelled in pain.

“Okay.” Suki got ahold of Katara’s shoulders and guided her back to her snow home. “I think its time, Katara.”

Katara turns her head to look at Suki and gasps, “What? No! It’s too soon.” She pants, “I’m not ready!”

Suki’s face was at a surprise, “Katara, it’s not too soon. It’s time.”

“B-But,” she stammers, “I’m so scared, Suki.”

Suki holds onto Katara’s hand, “Katara.” Katara meets eyes with her sister-in-law. “You’re going to do great. You have me and the people you love. Okay? We’ll get through this together.” Suki noticed Katara had tears welling in her eyes. She was panicking about going through this on her own. She wanted the comfort of her mother. Her mother would know exactly what to do. A tear slips down Katara’s cheek.

“Okay,” she sniffles, “Okay.” The two kept walking and made it inside the snow home. Momo laid on the floor on top of an animal hide but woke up when he heard Katara let out a grunt as another strike of pain was felt through every nerve in her body.

“Okay, Katara, we’ll just have you laying on here,” Suki guides her to the bed and helps her get on top. Katara sat up in bed against the headboard, and Suki put more pillows behind Katara’s back to help her get comfortable. Suki also helped take off Katara’s parka and put it away where Katara was only wearing her tunic. Katara closes her eyes and concentrating on the other contraction she felt coming. “I’m going to get Aang and Sokka. Okay?”

Katara nodded at Suki’s words as she continued to concentrate and focus on the pain. Suki bolts out of the snow home and runs west of the tribe towards the edge where there was Sokka’s watch tower. It was hard for her to run as her foot would sink down from the light slow. She was getting frustrated and ultimately made it outside of the watchtower.

“Sokka! Aang!” She yelled out. “Aang! Sokka!” She yelled once more until a head poked out at the top of the watchtower from a tiny window.

“Suki?” Sokka’s voice was heard.

“Get down! Its Katara! She’s in labor!” Sokka’s head was no longer seen as him and Aang bolted out of the watchtower. The three of them run towards the snow home as they can hear Katara yelling out in pain. Aang’s heart was beating fast. He couldn’t believe the moment had come. He was nervous but excited.

“I’ll go get my dad.” Sokka said and kept running through the village to his fathers home. Suki and Aang nodded at his words and dashed in the home.

Katara saw the two run in and let out a pant once she saw Aang, “Aang you’re here!” Tears were in her eyes but attempted to smile at the man she loved. Aang was at her side and was planting kisses on top of her hair and whispering things to her.

“You’re doing great, Katara.”

Suki was at the foot of the bed and had Katara bend her knees and plant her feet on top of the mattress. She looked under Katara’s tunic and had noticed that Katara was absolutely ready. Katara was working on her breathing as Aang held on to her hand as she felt another contraction, and she gripped on Aang’s hand and squeezed. Aang let out a whimper at the force.

“Okay, Katara,” Suki finally says pushing up the sleeves of her tunic as she prepared. She had a bowl of water ready and cloth next to her on a small table. “It’s time.”

Katara nodded her head at Suki’s words. Her body was feeling hot and sweaty as she worked her way through the pain. Katara had helped many people with giving birth, and she knew what to do, but she needed that push from Suki to tell her what to do. Putting her attention on her pain was making it difficult. Suki has helped other mothers with labor with Katara before, so she knew what to do. 

“Katara, once you feel at extreme pain, you may push,” Suki says once again. Katara pants and nods once again.

She felt another one coming and sat more forward and proceeded to push. She held tightly onto Aang’s hand and yelled through the pain. Pushing was even more painful and more tiring. She lets out a big exhale as she grew tired from the push and had her back sink back against the pillows.

“That’s great! That was a big one. Keep going,” Suki persuaded her. Katara was focusing on her breathing as she was inhaling through her nose and exhaling through her mouth. Tears formed in her eyes once again and tears escaped her waterline when she closed her eyes. She was at her peak in pain when she decided to push again. Her body was feeling exhausted from it all. Her back rested back against the pillows, and she kept crying in pain. She thought of her mother and how would her mother comfort her at a time like this. She imagined her mother holding onto her hand like Aang was and giving words of encouragement. Her mother pushing her hair away as it stuck to her forehead because of her sweaty skin. “Katara, I think I can see the head.” Katara’s eyes lit up at the mention and smiled tears of joy. She looked at Aang and tears welled in his eyes.

“You got this, Katara I’m right here,” he encouraged her. He pushed her hair out of the way, and she held onto his hand once more and pushed more as she was in excruciating pain. Her yells echoed throughout the whole snow home and perhaps the whole village.

“You’re at the shoulders now! Almost there. Just give a big push like you did earlier.”

Katara prepared herself and collected her feelings. She sat up forward and proceeded to push with all her might. She screamed through this and her face turned red at the pressure and pain she was feeling throughout her body. She grew tired after and sunk her body back down.

Suki saw the baby coming its way and supported the body as she put her hands on the neck and lower part of the head, and she used her other hand to support the lower back. The baby started to cry and as its wails was heard throughout the room, Aang couldn’t help but cry and so did Katara.

“It’s a boy!” Suki yelled out happily to the couple. They looked at each other and smiled and Katara cried tears of joy as it was all over. She let out a sigh of relief and felt her body relax against the pillows. She was tired. So tired, but it was all worth it in the end. Suki grabbed the cloth on the table next to her and dipped it in the bowl of water. She cleaned the baby away from fluids and approached Katara and Aang.

Katara’s lips trembled as she was handed her baby and tears spilled out of her. She laughed softly as she saw her baby stop crying and snuggled against her chest. She placed her hand on her son’s cheek and rubbed her thumb gently at his skin. Aang was mesmerized at the moment. His heart burst from joy and fell in love with his son. His only child. The first child to be born of Air nomad lineage in 111 years. Aang cried as he saw his son gently fall asleep against Katara’s chest. Katara cradled her son against her chest and turned her head to meet Aang. The two were both crying, but they were also happy.

“He’s here,” she whispered.

“He’s here,” he said. Aang went ahead and cut the umbilical chord. Katara was laying on top of the replica of her mothers blanket that her father had gifted her. She had the idea of wrapping her newborn son with it, and she pulled it out from under her gently and placed her baby in its warm fabric. She thought of her mother for a moment once again.

“I wish she was here,” she said outloud softly running her fingers through her sons hair. Aang perked up at the mention. He knew just who she was talking about, and she didn’t need to specify who “she” was. He approached towards her and held her hand as she held onto their son with one arm.

He has her arm level towards him and he leans down kissing her fingertips.

“She will always be here,” he confirms. “In there.” He points at her heart. Tears welled in Katara’s eyes and smiled at his words. He was right. As long as Katara kept her mothers memory alive and spoke of her from her heart, her mother will always be there with her even though she couldn’t see her physically.

“What are you going to name him?” Suki asked to the couple.

Katara looked up at Suki away from Aang and responds, “We’re going to name him Bumi.” Aang nods at Katara’s words.

“After the king of Omashu?”

“Yeah. Aang and I thought of it. You know, after his passing, it hit us home. He was a close friend of ours and the only friend of Aang before being in the iceberg.”

Suki smiled at how thoughtful the couple were to honor their friend. “I like that.” She approaches next to Katara on the other side of the bed and looks at the newborn child. “Welcome to the world, Bumi,” she said softly.

Aang leaves Katara and Suki alone and heads out of the snow home and encountered Sokka and Hakoda outside of the snow home. Sokka and Hakoda looked up at the avatar where Aang nodded his head at them— demonstrating that it was all over and they could come in.

“He’s here,” Aang says with a soft smile. Hakoda and Sokka looked at each other with their eyebrows raised in shock. Their lips grew into a smile and they hugged Aang in a group hug.

“Congratulations, Aang,” Hakoda said with tears in his eyes. They broke off the hug and Aang guided them inside. There, Sokka and Hakoda approached Katara at the bedside and saw Bumi.

“Dad, Sokka, this is Bumi,” she said presenting her child more. Hakoda grew with tears and laughed softly.

“Can I?” He gestures to hold him and Katara nods. She slowly picks him up and reaches her hands out holding on Bumi. Hakoda wipes his tears and reaches his arms out to hold onto his grandchild. He positioned Bumi against his chest as he cradled him in his arms and smiled at him. “Hi, Bumi. This is your grandfather, Hakoda. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Bumi snuggles against his chest and Hakoda couldn’t help but tear up a little. Sokka stood next to his father and leans his father a bit to look at Bumi.

He loved his nephew so much and couldn’t wait to see him grow and form a bond with him with Suki.

Sokka softly smiled, “And I’m your uncle Sokka. The best uncle out there.” Katara laughs at Sokka’s words and smiles. She couldn’t believe this was real. Sokka approached his sister and so did Suki.

“How’d it go?” He asks her.

“I dont know why I was scared. I did it all on my own with Suki’s help.” Katara looked at Suki and smiled.

“I told you you’d be able to do it,” Sokka replied.

“We knew you had it in you, Katara,” Suki said wrapping one arm around Sokka. Sokka wrapped both of his arms around Suki and hugged her tight.

“Thank you for being there for her,” he whispers in her ears. Suki hugs him tighter.

The family stood around Katara and Aang as they passed Bumi around to hold. Suki told the story on when Katara was in labor. She got to the part when she ran to the watchtower to get Aang and Sokka. Aang started to talk about his point of view of when it all happened. He stood next to Kataras bedside and kept telling his story on what happened. Katara watched him talk as he smiled and provided information on his feelings and thoughts when Suki got at the watchtower. Katara smiled as she was in the moment and had her eyes on Aang the whole time. She fell more in love with him. She didn’t think it was possible, but it was. He was in tuned with his story and told how Bumi came into the world with the help of Suki.

“But, the person we should definitely pay respects for and highly praise,” he says as he turns around to look at Katara, “is Katara.” He smiled at her, and she couldn’t help but have tears well in her eyes. Her small family praised her and congratulated her in a difficult task that she was able to do on her own with the help of Suki.

“Thank you,” she said softly at Aang. She reached her hand out towards him and got a hold of it. They intertwined their fingers together and Aang gently squeezed it followed by his thumb rub softly against her knuckles. They locked eyes and ignored what was happening around them. It was as if they were stuck in a trance with each other that was just filled with love. Hakoda, Suki, and Sokka were still with baby Bumi and talking to him softly. Katara and Aang’s eyebrows furrowed in a sympathetic manner followed by their lips growing into a small smile.

“I’m so proud of you,” he says as he leans his lips towards hers. She kissed him back, and he held onto her as they watched their family put their attention on the newborn. They were in the moment and couldn’t believe their son was already with them in the world. They were new parents and knew it will get difficult, but they know they can get through it together. They know they can.


	4. New beginnings

It had been almost two months since the birth of Bumi and the couple had stayed in the southern water tribe temporarily.

Hearing the wails from Bumi, both Katara and Aang shot open their eyes alarmed at the sound. They sat up in a quick manner and got out of bed to check on the child. Bumi’s crib was next to their bed, but Aang had to walk over to the other side of the bed where Katara had laid. Katara reaches her arms out at Bumi and carries him.

“Does he need a change? I can do it,” Aang states. Katara makes sure it wasn’t a diaper situation and tells him no.

“It’s feeding time actually,” She said cradling their son against her chest. She sits on the edge of the bed and fed Bumi as eating had made him slowly stop to cry. Aang wanted to do something to help, but he knew Katara had it under control. He hears Katara sigh and he looks at her.

“I’m just tired,” she says lowly. Both of them were. Each time Bumi cried at night, both of them would get up and do their parental duties. Aang sits next to her at the edge of the bed and rests his hand on her shoulder.

“If he cries again, don’t get up. I’ll handle it,” he reassures to her. She nods her head and looks back at Bumi as he kept drinking milk. Aang stayed with her by her side fully awake now, but his eyes were very tired. This whole parenting thing was new to them, and although it was tiring in this moment, he loved going through it with Katara and figuring it out themselves the best method on taking care of their first born.

Katara had some idea on how to raise someone based on her parents as figures she can look up to, but Aang had no idea about any parenting styles. Being raised by monks, he hadn’t known what it felt to feel attached to his biological mother or father. The only person he thought of was Gyatso. He thinks about him for a moment, and his heart stings at the thought. Every time he thought of him, it was like a fresh wound had reopened. His mind flashes back to the times he had hung out with him, and he smiles warmly to himself at the thought. Softening the tension in his body that he had felt when the pain on Gyatso’s death was brought up in mind.

He couldn’t wait to show Bumi the things Gyatso had taught him. Whether it be air bending if he turns out to be an Airbender or making fruit cakes like the ones Gyatso had taught him how to make, where after, they flew the cakes at other monks. He felt something trail down his face and he wipes his cheeks and felt the wetness on his hands. He hadn’t realized he was subtly crying where small tears flowed out of him. He wipes them off and clears his throat as Bumi had finished eating.

Katara looks at Aang, and Aang gives her a warm smile, and reached his arms out at Bumi. He lays Bumi on his stomach and places him against his chest near his shoulder where he patted softly on Bumi’s back to make him burp. He liked the warmth of his child near him as it gave him a sense of hope that Bumi was of air nomad descent and Aang was no longer alone. Finally, Bumi burped, and as Aang held onto Bumi and has him face him, he smiles warmly at him and stares into his sons eyes. He still couldn’t believe he was here, but he was so happy that he was and couldn’t wait to see the person he’d become.

The warm moment ended when Bumi threw up on Aang’s chest, and his face dropped. Katara covers her mouth to avoid laughter from spilling out, and she waterbends the content off of his clothes as Aang cleans up Bumi’s face from the vomit. Aang looks at her and thanks her for taking off the vomit off of his clothes. He gets up and walks a few inches towards Bumi’s crib and gently places him down. But as soon as Bumi’s back laid on his back, he began to cry.

Katara frowns at this and her instinct was to reach out to him, but Aang touches her hands to stop from continuing. She lets out a breath and looks up at Aang where he gave her a reassuring nod.

“It’s okay,” he whispers softly, “I got this. You can go back to sleep. You deserve it.”

She raises an eyebrow at him, “Are you sure?”

He nods once again and gives her a small smile demonstrating that it was fine. She lets out a wary okay and tucks herself into bed. Aang reached for Bumi again in his crib and carried him across his chest. He moved his arms in a side to side manner in a soft and subtle way where Bumi won’t feel the movement, but he would feel secure being in his fathers arm. Immediately after, Bumi had stopped crying, but he was fully awake. Aang looks down at his son and began to coo at him where Bumi smiled at him and tears welled in Aang’s eyes. He walked towards a nearby window that was on the other side of the room, and he looked out the window, watching the moon shine bright and feeling the cool air of the southern tribe.

Aang looked behind him and saw Katara asleep in their bed, and he looked back at the window still cradling Bumi. He moved his arms a bit to have Bumi carried out forward, so he can see the outside world.

“This is your mother’s home,” Aang began. “This is where I met her and your Uncle Sokka. Well— I should say that it was when _they_ met me.” He shifts Bumi back against his chest and looks down at him. Bumi was just looking at him and not responding to his words. Aang thought of it as foolish to have a conversation with him, knowing Bumi doesnt understand a thing he was saying, but he liked the idea of Bumi recognizing his voice before he had to go back to his duties as the avatar. He didn’t think of it as foolish anymore and smiled softly once again at his son and continued to talk to him. “You see, I was stuck in an ice-berg for one-hundred years. Crazy, right? It wasn’t until your mom had freed me, and well, the rest is history.”

Bumi reached his arms out at his fathers robes and wraps his small fingers onto them, feeling the soft material that Aang was wearing. Aang had thought about it for a moment and thought of an idea on gifting Bumi a set of monk robes to wear when he’s older. As a way to teach him about his air nomadic culture.

Aang lets out a breath that he didn’t think he was holding, and he immediately felt pressured to teach Bumi all he could about his side of his culture. But, he mentally pushed those thoughts in the back of his mind to ease the tension in his body that he was feeling. The burden of his culture all on his shoulders. To distract himself from those thoughts, he starts to talk to Bumi softly once again to calm his nerves. He looks down at him and saw the innocence in the eyes of his child. His son won’t know what living during an era of war would be like. He won’t have to worry about using bending to defend himself or fight people from different nations that can harm him. This was an era of peace. Aang himself didn’t have to worry about Bumi’s safety as much as he had to protect himself when the war was going on.

“You know, Bumi,” he whispers lightly, “Your mom, Uncle Sokka, and our other family, ended a century long war. The people we met along the way became our friends. Even our enemies son became my best friend. This long journey is what brought us close together.” He looks behind him at the bed again and sees Katara turn her body to her side and continues to sleep. “It’s what brought your mom and I closer. I loved her from the start.” He looks back at Bumi and shifted his eyes back at the moon in front of him peering out of the window. “We complete each other. We always motivate each other to do something we want to do, we are there for each other, and most importantly, we care for each other even in our bad days.”

He closes his eyes for a moment and thinks about the moments he had with Katara. When they were children and teaching each other how to waterbend. When she healed him after he was struck down by Azula. When he encouraged her to destroy the factory that was polluting the water in a village. When he had kissed her goodbye during the day of the black sun thinking it was going to be his last time seeing her.

He chuckles to himself lightly, “I’d like to tell you all about it, but I think that’s not until for another day.” He was still looking out at the moon and was stuck in a trance on its celestial beauty. He had remembered about Yue and thought of her for a brief moment and mutters a thank you at the moon for Yue’s sacrifice on keeping the world on balance. He looks back down at Bumi, and Bumi was now sleeping softly.

Aang quietly and softly moved away from the window and walked back towards Bumi’s crib. He gently lowered his arms down towards the bedding inside the crib, and Bumi laid against his back and continued to stay asleep.

Aang smiled at the sight of Bumi being asleep.

“I love you, Bumi,” he whispers, “I can’t wait to spend moments of my life with you and your mother.” Aang became startled when he felt arms hug around his body from behind. But his body softened when he realized it was Katara. She had woken up when she heard Aang whispering and had quietly got out of bed and hugged him. He turns around to face her and smiled with warm blush in his cheeks.

“How much did you hear?” He asked her.

She laughs quietly, not wanting to wake up Bumi, “I heard enough.” He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. Katara liked hugs from Aang. It brought her warmth, and she felt secure in his arms every time he hugged her. He kisses the top of her head, and he unwraps the hug from his wife, and she walked forward to see Bumi.

She wraps one arm around Aang, and Aang placed his hand on top of hers. Her fingertips softly brushing against his own.

“He’s so adorable,” Katara said finally. She reached her other hand towards Bumi, and softly brushed his hair away from his face.

“He’s so peaceful when sleeping,” Aang responded. Katara laughs at that.

“He sure is.” She looks away from Bumi and then at Aang. He faced her when he felt her looking at him and their eyes locked within each other. As if they were stuck in a deep trance of deep admiration and love they felt for one another. The twinkle in their eyes spoke so much than words can say. Not even an ‘I love you’ can. They intertwined their fingers together and Aang gently squeezed his hand with hers.

“This is new and different,” Katara starts. She pauses for a while trying to get the words out of her mouth. “But I like the experience and going through it with you.” She smiles at the thought.

“We make a great team,” he responds warmly.

Katara lets out a breath, “Yeah we do.” She squeezed her hand back in his his and it all just felt right in the moment. For a while, they had stood there watching over Bumi and giving each other warm gestures of affection until Katara guided back Aang into bed.

Soon, the small family were soundly asleep as Aang had wrapped his arms around Katara, and Katara snuggled against him. Bumi was soundly asleep in his crib next to his parents bed with the blanket that Hakoda had gifted Katara keeping him warm and secure. The small family were in peace, and soon with the sun peaking through the sky and with purple and pink colors appearing in the sky, the day began anew. A new day of hope and a new day of peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took long for me to bring this chapter out, but I hope you enjoyed it :) 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading !!


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